Newark, NJ

New York, NY

Move This World uses multimedia content to develop social skills and strengthen emotional intelligence in PreK through high school.

Oakland, CA

Substantial (501(c)3) creates training, resources and information substitute teachers need to be successful. The program customizes for each school system’s unique context, and delivers it online with modern, mobile friendly technology.

Boston, MA

Unruly Studios revolutionizes learning by combining STEM education with physical play. It teaches kids how to code and gets them active.

Washington, DC

Denver, CO

an engaging app that exposes students to STEM careers using videos, games and self-reflection quizzes. Learn more>

San Francisco, CA

a nonprofit software service and mobile iOS and Android app that guides and motivates community college students by using customized nudges to take actions and engage in behaviors proven to help them graduate faster. Learn more>

Chicago, IL

Raleigh, NC

an education innovation firm providing a research-backed, online platform & services for educators and their organizations to know and manage the technologies that are best for their classrooms. Learn more>

San Francisco, CA

Board of Advisors

The Aspire Accelerator’s primary objective is to foster the Education Technology ecosystem and support innovative new products and services in education. The Aspire Accelerator’s Board of Advisors supports the program and shares our mission for social impact.

Charles BestFounder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org

Charles Best is the CEO and Founder of DonorsChoose.org, a nonprofit organization which provides a simple way to address educational inequity. At DonorsChoose.org, public school teachers create classroom project requests and donors can pick the projects they want to support. For more information on Charles click here.

Kimberly BryantFounder of Black Girls Code

Kimberly Bryant is the Founder and Executive Director of Black Girls CODE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to “changing the face of technology” by introducing underrepresented girls to the field of technology and computer science. For more information on Kimberly click here.

Elizabeth CorcoranCo-Founder and CEO of EdSurge

Elizabeth “Betsy” Corcoran is co-founder and CEO of EdSurge, an award-winning news and information source on education technology. EdSurge delivers weekly newsletters for educators and entrepreneurs, as well as the industry's most comprehensive index of edtech products, and runs conferences around the country where educators and entrepreneurs meet on common ground. For more information on Betsy click here.

Brigette LauPartner at Social Capital

Brigette Lau is a Partner at Social Capital, whose mission is to advance humanity by solving the world's hardest problems. Social Capital seeks to create value and change on a global scale by investing in and starting companies in areas including healthcare, education, financial services and enterprise. In this role, Brigette leads the firm's investments in the education industry, including investments in InstaEDU (acquired by Chegg), Descomplica, Treehouse, Swing Education, Brilliant and CreativeLive. For more information on Brigette, click here

Nancy Lue Co-Lead, Advanced Research & Development Education Fund

Nancy Poon Lue is currently co-leading the exploration of a national advanced research and development education fund on behalf of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. She is also a Partner and Secretary of the Board of Directors of the venture philanthropy organization Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2). Previously, she served as Executive Director of the venture capital firm Global Silicon Valley (GSV) and Senior Advisor of the U.S. Department of Education. For more information on Nancy click here.

Daniel Lurie Co-Founder and CEO of Tipping Point

Before founding Tipping Point in 2005, Daniel Lurie worked for the Bill Bradley Presidential Campaign, Accenture Consulting and the Robin Hood Foundation in New York City. September 11th 2001 fell within Daniel’s first week of work at Robin Hood and he was humbled to witness Robin Hood’s relief efforts to lift up the city. For more information on Daniel click here.

Ramona PiersonHead of Learning Products, Amazon

At the age of 22, Ramona Pierson was hit by a drunk driver while running and spent 18 months in a coma and 11 years blind. She relearned everything from breathing and seeing to walking and smiling. From this experience arose the drive to build companies where personalized learning and relearning were the center of all products. For more information on Ramona click here.

Sebastian ThrunFounder and President of Udacity

Sebastian Thrun has set his sights on democratizing higher education. Founder and President of Udacity, Sebastian is also a Research Professor at Stanford University and a Google Fellow, as well as the inventor of the autonomous car and project lead on Google Glass. For more information on Sebastian click here.